Spreader skew arrangement

ABSTRACT

In cargo-handling apparatus having a spreader conformably fitting and attaching to a cargo container, the improvement characterized by having a carriage means supportingly engaging a transverse support member of the spreader such that the carriage means is reciprocally movable laterally of the spreader so as to be able to move at least one end of the spreader to skew it over such that its conforming corner attachments will mate with those on the cargo container. Also disclosed are specific preferred arrangements wherein the spreader is moved with respect to the carriage by a fluid powered cylinder, piston and shaft arrangement; and wherein movable carriages are employed at each end of the spreader for doubling the amount of skew attainable.

United States Patent White, Jr. et al.

[is] 3,656,795 [451 Apr. 18,1972

- s41 SPREADER SKEW ARRANGEMENT [72] Inventors: James C. White, In;Roger L. Wolfe, both of Longview, Tex.

[73] Assignee: R. G. Le Tourneau lnc., Longview, Tex.

[22] Filed: June 30, 1970 v 21 Appl. No.: 51,207

[521' U.S.Cl. ..Z94/67 R,2l4/l5 R, 294/8ISF [51] Int. Cl. B66c 1/00 [58]Field of Search ..294/67 R, 67 DA, 8i R, 8] SF; 2l4/l5, 392, 396, 658

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,544,149 12/ I970 Saarinen..294/67 R 3,042,227 7/ I962 Tantlinger ..294/8l SF PrimaryExaminer-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Johnny D. CherryAttorney-Wofiord and Felsman s71 ABSTRACT In cargo-handling apparatushaving a spreader conformably fitting and attaching to a cargocontainer, the improvement characterized by having a carriage meanssupportingly engaging a transverse support member of the spreader suchthat the carriage means is reciprocally movable laterally of thespreader so as to be able to move at least one end of the spreader toskew it over such that its conforming comer attachments will mate withthose on the cargo container. Also disclosed are specific preferredarrangements wherein the spreader is moved with respect to the carriageby a fluid powered cylinder, piston and shaft arrangement; and whereinmovable carriages are employed at each end of the spreader for doublingthe amount of skew attainable.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention v This invention relates to load-handling apparatus; and, moreparticularly, to cargo-handling apparatus in which'a spreaderconfonnably engages a cargo container for transporting the cargocontainer from one location to another.

2. Description of the Prior Art 'A wide variety of load-handlingapparatus has been devised. For example, large cargo containers havebeen developed to save the cost of individually and laboriouslytransporting numerous smaller items. These large cargo containers havebeen handled by spreaders, a structural-frame that conformably engagesand attaches to the cargo containers. The spreader: have support meanssuch as a plurality of cable and sheave arrangements at each end forpicking up the cargo containers.

l-leretofore, however, 'it has been difficult for the operator of alarge crane such as a dock crane to effect the desired alignment of hiscable-suspended spreader with a cargo container many feet below him;such as, in the hold of a ship.

Frequently, it necessitated the help of an additional workman to alignthe spreader, negating part of the savings of the loadmated handling.

; BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGJI is a partial isometric view ofa typical load-handling now eflect lateral movement of one or both endsof the suspension support means, form a means for raising and loweringthe load. The means for raising and lowering the load ultimately liftsspreader l1 and its cargo container 13 by its support members 33 and 35,which must be structurally adequate for this purpose. Each transversesupport member may comprise a unitary structural member or a pluralitythereof.

As illustrated, sheaves 37 suspendingly and supportingly engagetransverse support member 33 via its block 41 at a fixed location, as bya pin shaft 43.

At the other transverse support member 35, however, a carriage meanssuch as carriage 45 suspendingly and supportingly engages the supportmember'35. The carriage 45 is reciprocally movable laterally of thespreader 11 and longitudinally crane such as a dock crane employing oneembodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa cargo spreader such as employed in Fig.1, and employing an embodiment of this invention.

another'embodiment of this invention.

DESCRlPTlON OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It is a primary object of thisinvention to provide apparatus enabling remotely aligning a spreaderwith the cargo container it is to pick up; the remote aligning beingeffected by the operator of the large equipment that will ultimatelypickup the spreader, and without requiring an additional workman.

Referring to FIG. 1, a spreader l1 'conformingly and supportinglyengages cargo container 13 in suspension; and is, in turn, carried bymain support beam 15 via cables 17 depending therefrom. Cables 17 engagea hoisting drum on platform 19 and suitable sheaves on the spreader 1 l.The main support beam 15 is reciprocally movable within a main supportframe 21 ofa vehicle 23. As illustrated, thevehicle 23 is a dock crane,although it may be any other large crane suitable for the area in whichthe cargo container 13 is to be moved, or transported. In any event, thevehicle 23 is supported by suitable bases 25. The bases 25 are mountedon a plurality of suitable wheels, or tracks, 27 for movement along asurface such as i a dock. The vehicle 23 and the main support beam 15,as well as cables 17, move responsively to controls by the operator inthe operator's console 29. The operators console 29 may be many feet;for example, 70 feet or more; from the surface on along the supportmember by way of rollers 47 engaging a recessed groove, or track, 49 in'the transverse support member 35.

Adrive means is connected with the spreader l1 and with the carriage forreciprocally moving the carriage 45 along the lineal axis of thetransverse support member 35; or, more importantly, for moving the end51 of the spreader 11 with respect to carriage 45 to effect alignment ofthe spreader 11 with the cargo container 13 it is to pick up.Specifically, a

shaft 53is connected with carriage 45 and to a piston within FIG. 3 is aperspective view of a cargo spreader employing v cylinder 55. Respectivefluid conduits 57 and 59 connect the ends of cylinder 55 with a four-wayvalve 61. The four-way valve 61 is connected at its high pressure sidevia conduit 63 0 with a pump 65, and at its low pressure side viaconduit 67 which is emplaced the cargo container with which spreader 1 lis to be confonningly aligned in order to supportingly engage it. Theoperator can move the vehicle 23 along its longitudinal axis forward orrearward, can move main support beam 15 along the lateral axis of thevehicle 23, and can move spreader l1 vertically; all with relative ease.The vehicle 23 is relatively difflcult'maneuverable for effecting finecorrections other than along its longitudinal axis. Consequently, in theevent the cargo container has become slightly skewed, as by the pitchingor rolling of a ship, the operator heretofore has had difiiculty inskewing the spreader 11 to conformingly engage the cargo container 13.With this invention, however, the operator can 75 movement of the mainsupport beam 15 and the vehicle 23.

with reservoir 69. Pump 65 is connected with reservoir 69 via conduit71. Pump 65 is also drivingly connected with motor 73. The motor 73 andthe four-way valve 61 are connected with the operator's console 29, FIG.1, via suitable conductors 75 for control by the operator.

. In operation, the operator in his elevated operators console 29effects movement of the vehicle such as dock crane 23 along the dock toposition platform 19 above the point at which the cargo container 13 isto be picked up. The location may be above the hold of a ship. Thespreader 1 1 is lowered to the point immediately above the container 13.In the event that the container and the spreader are not in alignment,the operator effects movement of the end 51 of spreader 11 in thedesired direction through suitably supplying high pressure fluid througheither fluid conduit 57 or 59 to effect a high pressure on one side ofthe piston in the cylinder 55. Thus, the shaft 53 responsively movescarriage 45 laterally along the transverse support member 35.Ordinarily, the amount which the end 51 has to be moved will be slightand will be readily effected even though there may be a reactionmovement of the carriage 45. Ordinarily, the reaction movement of thecarriage 45 will be slight. Once alignment is effected, the spreader 1 1is lowered to conformingly and supportingly engage cargo container 13.The engagement is well known and need not be described in detail herein.Briefly, the respective corners 77 comprise skirtsto guide the spreader11 over the comers of the cargo container 13. Suitable latch membersengage openings in the cargo container to effect the attachment of thespreader 11 to the cargo container 13. Thereafter, the operator liftsspreader 11 and the cargo container 13 until it clears the obstaclesbetween it and its destination. He then positions the platform 19 andthe cargo container 13 through suitable movement along main support beam15, with or without 3. Therein, both ends 51 and 79 have respectivecarriage means such as carriages 45 and 45a. Each carriage 45 and 45ahas its individual drive meansv and its individual support means.Specifically, carriages 45 and 45a each have a respective cylinder,piston and shaft arrangement to move it laterally of the spreader 11 inresponse to suitable signals from the operator. ,Each of the respectivecylinder, piston and shaft arrangements have their own respectivefour-way-valve, hydraulicpump, motor and hydraulic reservoir, with therespective conduit interconnections, as described hereinbefore.

1 The operation of the embodiment of FIG. 3 is essentially the same asdescribed hereinbefore with respect to FIG. 2. The advantage of theembodiment of FIG. 3 is that the operator can move one end in onedirection and the other end in the opposite direction to effect twice asmuch relative degrees of skewness to align the spreader 11 with thecargo container 13. Once the idea of employing the reciprocally movablecarriage for effecting the requisite skewness for alignment has beendelineated, various drive means for effecting the relative lateralmovement between the carriage 45 and the spreader l 1 will come readilyto mind. For example, a rack and pinion arrangement with a respectivemotor means turning the pinion may be employed with each carriage 45.Moreover, other means of maintaining the carriage supportingly engagingthe transverse support members can be employed. For example, pads mayslidably and supportingly engage the transverse sup- I port membersinstead of having the rollers 47 in their respective recessed grooves49..

Thus, it can be seen that this invention enables an operator of a craneat his operators console to remotely effect skewing of a spreader toalign with a cargo container the spreader is to pick up; and therebyavoids the difficulties of the prior art. No exotic new materials arerequired since the invention can be made employing only those materialsof construction ordinarily employed in this art. In addition, thereciprocally movable carriage 45 enables an operator to position arespective cable sheaves thereon effecting a more nearly balanced cargocontainer.

Although the invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made onlyby way of example and that numerous changes in the details ofconstruction and the. combination and-arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In load handling apparatus having means for raising and lowering theload, the improvement comprising: V

a. spreader means for confonnably attaching to a cargo container; saidspreader means having a plurality of transverse, spaced apart supportmembers; b. carriage means supportingly engaging in suspension at leastone of said support members, said carriage meansv being reciprocallymovable laterally of said spreader means and longitudinally along saidsupport member;

c. positive drive means controllable by an operator for reciprocallymoving said carriage means to selected positions laterally of saidspreader means and along the at least one support member; and

d. a sheave block having a shank portion fixed to said car- 7 l t m fitron Wl cable means engaglng said s eave block for raising and loweringthe load.

3. The load-handling apparatus of claim 1 wherein a respectivecarriagemeans reciprocally, suspendingly, and supportingly engages one of twolongitudinally spaced said transverse support members, and each carriagemeans has its in-. dividual positive drive means and its individualsheave block suspension support means.

4. The load-handling apparatus of claim 1 wherein said positive drivemeans comprises a hydraulically powered cylinder, piston and shaftarrangement connected intermediate said carriage means and the frame ofsaid spreader.

1. In load-handling apparatus having means for raising and lowering theload, the improvement comprising: a. spreader means for conformablyattaching to a cargo container; said spreader means having a pluralityof transverse, spaced apart support members; b. carriage meanssupportingly engaging in suspension at least one of said supportmembers, said carriage means being reciprocally movable laterally ofsaid spreader means and longitudinally along said support member; c.positive drive means controllable by an operator for reciprocally movingsaid carriage means to selected positions laterally of said spreadermeans and along the at least one support member; and d. a sheave blockhaving a shank portion fixed to said carriage, with cable means engagingsaid sheave block for raising and lowering the load; whereby saidspreader may be skewed by remote control to align with a cargo containerby appropriate movement of said carriage means longitudinally along saidat least one support member.
 2. The load-handling apparatus of claim 1wherein said carriage means reciprocally, suspendingly and supportinglyengages a first transverse support member; and a second transversesupport member has a sheave block having a shank portion suspendinglyand supportingly engaging it at a fixed location with cable meansengaging said sheave block for raising and lowering the load.
 3. Theload-handling apparatus of claim 1 wherein a respective carriage meansreciprocally, suspendingly, and supportingly engages one of twolongitudinally spaced said transverse support members, and each carriagemeans has its individual positive drive means and its individual sheaveblock suspension support means.
 4. The load-handling apparatus of claim1 wherein said positive drive means comprises a hydraulically poweredcylinder, piston and shaft arrangement connected intermediate saidcarriage means and the frame of said spreader.